The Burrill Report

Canadian researchers say that peoples’ early-life experiences stick with them into adulthood, with those from disadvantaged backgrounds potentially more susceptible to many of the chronic diseases of aging. The researchers from the University of British Columbia say their study shows that among subjects with low early-life socioeconomic circumstances, evidence suggests that genes involved with inflammation were selectively “switched-on” at some point. The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says researchers believe this is because the cells of individuals from underprivileged backgrounds were not effectively responding to a hormone called cortisol that usually controls inflammation.

“We’ve identified some ‘biologic residue’ of people’s early-life experience that sticks with them into adulthood,” says Gregory Miller, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the Brain Research Centre at UBC Hospital.

The researchers performed genome-wide profiling in 103 healthy adults aged 25-40 years. Those who participated in the study were either low or high in early-life socioeconomic circumstances related to income, education, and occupation during the first five years of life. But the two groups were similar in socioeconomic status at the time the genome assessment was performed and also had similar lifestyle practices such as smoking and drinking.

 “The study suggests that experiences get under the skin,” says Michael Kobor, an assistant professor in the UBC Department of Medical Genetics and a scientist at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at the Child & Family Research Institute.

The researchers say this pattern of responses might contribute to the higher rates of infectious, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases as well as some forms of cancer among people who grow up in low-socioeconomic households, according to the interdisciplinary research team that also includes scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles. 

“It seems to be the case that if people are raised in a low socioeconomic family, their immune cells are constantly vigilant for threats from the environment,” says Miller. “This is likely to have consequences for their risk for late-life chronic diseases.”

July 17, 2009
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-%e2%80%9cbiologic_residue%e2%80%9d.html